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Spiral: Buffy not having a plan never bothered me this season. She has been really distracted.

I know the big bad keeps disappearing on you, but that’s a trope of American TV. You just can’t stretch out that kind of tension across 22 episodes. At least they’re consistent in this across the seasons in Buffy. We remember season 2 as having a more present evil because it actually had two sets of big bads: Spike/Dru, and then Angelus.

I’m able to forgive Deux-ex-truck only because Buffy rarely just gets lucky.

The Weight of the World: Considering how little happens in this episode I was surprised how much I enjoyed it and the extent to which it made me excited about what would happen next.

The long sequence with Willow in Buffy’s mind was much subtler than it might have been – I liked the mystery of the repeated re-shelving of a book that was eventually explained. Buffy’s feelings about giving up link back to the themes in Fool For Love although she doesn’t actually express a personal death wish.

The other main thread was Ben and Glory’s beings affecting one another. I think was good but could have been much better. I’m afraid I think it was let down in part by the actor who plays Ben. He seems a bit more wooden on rewatch. The scene after he has escaped with Dawn and sort of strikes some kind of deal with Glory were a bit unconvincing and the details of the deal were very vague. Why would he ever trust Glory and he seems to be agreeing to be another immoral god like herself which isn’t that attractive. But I might have bought it if his acting was a little better.

Doc is great and creepy. A bit convenient that he has all the information in a chest that just happens to be on his desk but I’m willing to forgive that due to his fantastically creepiness.

I always liked this episode esp. the dream like sequences…Willow’s mini-adventure into Buffy’s mind is nifty and has some nice surreal moments. I read that SMG didn’t have much time because she was needed to be away filming the first Scooby Doo movie. So Joss turned this into an opportunity. Her state is also a plot device to hold off the action until the finale.

In this episode we see the similarities between Ben and Buffy. Both have a destiny that they didn’t choose but have to live within, both facing the decision to kill Dawn, one to save himself, the other to save the world. At the beginning of this season, Buffy wanted to know more about the Slayer side of her, but after her mother’s death, she only wanted to regain her humanity. We see that to feel guilt is human, Glory doesn’t feel it, Ben is trying to shake it off to be immortal, and Buffy is paralyzed by it. As Willow goes into her mind, we see Buffy trying to make sense of the “Death is your gift” message from the First Slayer. Buffy believes that death is “all I am” and we see Joyce’s grave, alluding to Buffy’s guilt over her mother’s death. She couldn’t stop her mom dying and she thinks she has killed Dawn by failing to stop Glory taking her. We see Buffy’s death wish something every slayer has according to Spike.

The inner struggle between Glory and Ben is interesting, especially the switching effects between Ben and Glory as each other try to take control.

Glory echoes Dawn when she shrieks: “Get out get out get out!” to the anointing priest.

Also, the continuing gag throughout the episode where everyone keeps forgetting Glory is Ben and Spike getting irritated is funny. Although it’s a bit strange that they keep forgetting it after Spike told them.

The Bad: If Doc could tell that Joyce had good DNA from a hair off Dawn’s head then surely he’d realise she was the Key? (Glory can tell it by tasting Tara’s blood). Ben tells Dawn he has a life, a job…wasn’t he fired some episodes ago?! I don’t like Glory’s dress – ugly! I also don’t like Buffy’s black leather outfit…

“The Weight of the World” is a good episode that leads into the finale very well giving a sense of dread as Giles’ last words to Buffy in the episode is “the only way is to kill Dawn”.

Hope I got this in before you guys recorded, but if not then I guess it can wait until next week!

I liked this episode okay, although I’m still not convinced by Ben’s abrupt change in his character. Or maybe he’s always been this way and the writers haven’t done well at showing it. Because you could argue that the true heroic thing to do would have been to commit suicide once he realized what Glory’s plans were. Someone suggested on a different website that perhaps Ben and Glory bleeding into each other caused him to choose to kill Dawn since he was more under her influence. Not sure I buy into that, because it doesn’t explain some of his other actions earlier in the season.

I did like how they chose to portray Buffy’s mind as she’s in her catatonia. The repeated thoughts, just going over and over. It reminded me, in a way, of how Restless was filmed (although that episode was written by Joss and this one wasn’t). Funny how Buffy would have “remembered” being home alone when Joyce and Hank brought home Dawn from the hospital.